Cook County State's Attorney's office hopes new software platform will help clear case backlog
CHICAGO (CBS) -- It's a problem we've been digging into for months - victims' families complaining justice has been delayed because of a growing number of pending cases in Cook County.
Now, as CBS 2 Investigator Megan Hickey reported Monday, the Cook County State's Attorney's office hopes it has a possible solution.
It's a brand-new software platform designed for prosecutors and law enforcement to more easily share evidence, which experts tell us is one of the biggest issues holding up some of these cases for way too long.
State's Attorney Kim Foxx on Monday announced the implementation of a brand-new software platform designed for prosecutors and law enforcement to share evidence more easily. The NICE Investigate System will allow the State's Attorney's office Felony Division and each of the five suburban district courthouses to store, manage, and analyze criminal investigation evidence from one central platform, the office said.
NICE Investigate allows law enforcement, businesses, and witness to store and share audio, video, and documents from sources including mobile devices, social media, and CCTV cameras, the State's Attorney's office said.
Many families in Cook County have been waiting years for their cases to finally get to trial – and for months, we've been asking why.
Experts told us routine types of digital evidence can take months to obtain - and for years, the collection process has been largely by hand.
Now, State's Attorney's Office says the NICE Investigate System will change all that.
The system is currently used in several counties across the country – including Nassau County, New York, which comprises part of the Long Island suburbs; Pierce County, Washington, where Tacoma is located; Alameda County, California, which is home to Oakland and Berkeley; and DeKalb County, Georgia, which is Atlanta's county.
Several police agencies in the U.K. also use the system.
The Cook County State's Attorney's Office reviews more than 30,000 felony cases a year - and countless evidence files associated with them.
"Cases are going way too long for families, because the families are the ones who suffer - and the individual waiting trial as well," said Cook County Commissioner John Daley (D-11th).
Commissioner Daley has been vocal in the past about lags in the court. He believes the new software will help speed up the process.
"It's a beginning - a strong beginning," he said, "but again, it's collecting it and making sure all parties are cooperating. Hopefully they are, and I assume that if they don't, we would hear from the States' Attorney."
Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller (6th) also endorsed the new system:
"Finding ways to streamline our criminal justice system to speed up cases will not only save county dollars, but can help ensure we don't prolong the agony faced by victims' families, detainees, and all of those impacted when a crime occurs. Efforts to improve the system and better track data and information are a step in the right direction, and as a member of the National Association of Counties' CORE Justice Network, I look forward to continuing to learn from leaders across the country on best practices to make our communities safer and more equitable."
Commissioner Daley has also spoken out about the need for the court to track why certain cases are delayed.
Cook County Chief Judge Tim Evans vowed to work with the Circuit Court Clerk's office to start tracking why delays occur. Evans' office said the ball is in the Circuit Court Clerk's office's court.
"The information the clerk is asking for is information the clerk already has. A judge indicates on what are known as 'half sheets' the reasons for a continuance in a case. These half sheets are kept by the clerk's office as the keeper of the court's records. Based on a review of these half sheets, our office has compiled and submitted to the clerk a list of the reasons why cases are continued. The clerk must assign activity codes for each of the reasons provided. However, as the keeper of the official court record, it is the clerk's responsibility to do this, not the Office of the Chief Judge."
